Triple Crown of Oregon
Start Date: May 17 at 6:30am MST
Finish Date: June 27 at 6:25pm PST
Total Time: 41 days 0 hrs 55 minutes
I decided to tackle the three trails in this order: The Oregon Desert Trail, The Oregon Coast Trail, and lastly The Oregon Pacific Crest Trail.
Since this was an FKT attempt for three trails back to back to back, I followed the actual triple crown guidelines (the AT, CDT, & PCT) which meant I could receive rides from one trail to the next (the ODT to the OCT and the OCT to the O-PCT). Each trail was hiked self-supported which states the following; “self-supported means you may have as much support as you can manage or find along the way, but not from any thing or person just for you; any support you employ must be equally available to anyone else. This can also include caching supplies in advance, purchasing supplies along the way, staying at motels, and finding or requesting food and water along the way. but did receive a ride from one trail to the next.” I did my best to stay as true to each trail as possible, so long as the routes were safe. I used my Gamin Enduro watch to record distance hiked. I did carry a Spot Tracker but after a week of use, it stopped working. I replaced the batteries without luck. I did have satellite on my phone, so took as many photos and videos as possible.
The Oregon Desert Trail:
In messaging the current ODT FKT holder, I decided to follow in his footsteps by pre-placing water and food caches along the route. There are minimal towns to hike into along the way and water is extremely sparse. There is no FarOut map for the ODT trail. The ODT Association provided me with paper maps. Some sections had multiple routes to choose from to ensure the safety of hikers. I used the onX Backcountry Application to create my own maps to follow on my phone.
Direction of Travel: Lake Owyhee State Park to the Tumulus Trailhead (East to West)
I started the Oregon Desert Trail on May 17 at 6:30am (MST-5:30pst) and finished on June 6th at 3:03PM. Total Time: 20 days 9 hrs 33 minutes; Total Miles: 772.38; Total Ascent: 81,429
Oregon Coast Trail: Starting the trail early in the season, there was zero trail maintenance along the route, especially the first 3 days. Everything was so overgrown and muddy making for very dangerous conditions. On day 2 of hiking the OCT, I encountered my first trail closure due to an active landslide at mile 24.2. This resulted in taking the blue line. I did miss several tide crossings which added several miles from having to hike around.
Direction of Travel: SOBO. I started on June 7 at 3pm and finished on June 16 at 11:49pm. Total Time: 9days 8hrs 49min; Total Miles: 430.61; Total Ascent: 36,201
Oregon Pacific Crest Trail: The PCT is a pretty straight forward trail. The only problems that I was faced with was extreme rain and the tremendous amount of downed trees. This was my 4th time hiking the Oregon PCT section and this was by far the worst conditions I have seen it in.
Direction of Travel: NOBO. I started on June 17 at 4:19pm and finished on June 27 at 6:25pm . This was my fourth time hiking through the Oregon PCT section and this was the worst I have seen it as far as downed trees go. Besides ending the trail in harsh weather, these were my only obstacles along the route. Total Time: 10days 2hrs 6min. Total Miles: 463.45; Total Ascent: 64,511
Photos and videos of this FKT Attempt were documented on my Instagram account: instagram.com/jessicapekari